30 Drabbles of FraSopp
by XXCaptainUsoppXX
Summary: 30 drabbles about everyone's favourite shipwright and sharpshooter! For Stormsoul22's 30 Pieces contest. Franky/Usopp
1. Cutty Flam

30 drabbles about everyone's favourite shipwright and sharpshooter! For Stormsoul22's _30 Pieces_ contest.

* * *

><p><strong>Title: <strong>Cutty Flam**  
>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)**  
>Theme: <strong>Initial**  
>Rating: <strong>K  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 233  
><strong>Warning: <strong>None, really... no spoilers past Water 7/Enies Lobby.**  
>Disclaimer(s):<strong> These characters belong to Oda!

* * *

><p>Franky leaned over the worktable, reaching over Usopp's shoulder to make another note on the blueprint of their latest project. The heavy gold chain that hung around the cyborg's neck banged the back of Usopp's head.<p>

"Hey! Ouch," Usopp complained, reaching back to shove Franky aside.

His hand landed just below Franky's right shoulder, on the letters carved into his cyborg skin.

"Hey, what is this?" Usopp asked, the bump on his head momentarily forgotten. He pulled back the sleeve of Franky's shirt a bit.

"BF," Usopp read. "What's that, your initials?"

Franky grinned.

"BF? Nah, that stands for Battle Franky!"

Although his voice was as loud and boisterous as ever, Usopp noticed the slight darkening in the cyborg's eyes. Something told him Franky didn't want to elaborate.

"So what _are_ your initials?" he asked instead.

"CF," Franky replied, his eyes brightening almost instantly.

"CF?"

"Cutty Flam."

"_Cutty Flam?_ Your real name is Cutty Flam?" Usopp snickered.

"Shut up," Franky grumbled, but he was still grinning. "You sound like Bakaburg."

Usopp's snickers turned into guffaws.

"Oh, you think my name's funny, do you?" Franky taunted.

He grabbed his crewmate by the waist and pinned him to the workshop floor, viciously tickling Usopp's sides with his oversized hands.

"Pffft… bwahahaha, stop!" Usopp gasped.

"You think my name's so funny? What're your initials, then?"

But both pirates were laughing too hard for Usopp to answer.


	2. Denial

**Title: **Denial  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Sensible  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 213  
><strong>Warning: <strong>I got nothing.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda owns these guys!

* * *

><p>The presents Franky would sometimes give his crewmate weren't really gifts. They were sensible, practical things, like tools and supplies, just passing stuff along to a fellow inventor.<p>

And that time he'd given Usopp the candy he'd convinced Sanji to make, it had been for a good reason. To say sorry for keeping the sharpshooter up all night working on another project. And of course he hadn't kept him up so long on purpose. The hours had just gotten away from them. Because of the project, of course.

And those times he blushed… well, it wasn't really blushing. Just a flush, really, because it was warm down there in the fuel room where they were refilling the cola barrels.

And Usopp didn't seem to mind, really, that sometimes Franky would sit a little too close to him when they worked together on a blueprint. Or that when he'd lean over the younger pirate he'd keep his hand on Usopp's shoulder just a little longer than necessary.

But the cyborg couldn't deny that when Usopp would look over at him with a wide smile and a glint in his eye, the few human organs Franky had left would tingle a bit. And maybe it wasn't a very sensible feeling, but it was definitely super.


	3. Heart

**Title: **Heart  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Breath  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 137  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much…  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>Usopp leaned his head on the sleeping cyborg's chest. The sound of Franky's breath as he breathed in and out was regular and soothing.<p>

The sound was nearly drowned out by the clicking of gears and the gurgle of pipes, though, reminding Usopp that Franky's body was more machine than human.

He had never been able to bring himself to ask if Franky still had a working human heart. He'd never heard a steady beat in the cyborg's chest, but he liked to imagine Franky's heart still beat, softly but steadily, nestled between the gears and pipes.

Franky shifted in his sleep and wrapped his arms around the sniper. Usopp settled his head in the crook of Franky's neck and smiled as the cyborg's breath ruffled his hair.

He was sure the man still had a heart.


	4. Not Alone

**Title: **Not Alone  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Mattress  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 422  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> These characters belong to Oda… I only wish they were mine.

Could be a prequel to the previous drabble, explaining _why _Usopp was lying next to a sleeping Franky…

* * *

><p>"Hey, Longnose-bro," Franky called when Usopp stepped into his workshop. "Come check this out!"<p>

Usopp's eyes followed where Franky was pointing and landed on a small mattress shoved into the corner of his workshop.

"It's a suuuper-mattress!" Franky announced, posing beside the mattress. "I put one in each of our workshops, so we don't have to go to the boys' cabin if we stay up late working on projects."

"Wow, that's awesome, Franky!" Usopp said approvingly. "Sanji's threatened to bash my head in the last few times I've woken him up by coming into the boys' room late at night…"

Franky laughed and clapped Usopp on the back with a large hand, shoving him towards the mattress.

"Try it out!"

"Errr…" Usopp hesitated for a moment. It wasn't unlike Franky to have installed weapons or something equally terrifying and amazing in his latest invention.

Usopp said down on the edge of the mattress, and let out a sigh of relief when it didn't blow up. He let himself fall on his back and bounced a bit. It really was quite comfortable.

"Thanks, Franky! It's super!"

…

Usopp tossed and turned on his new mattress that night. His whole body was on alert, and his eyes couldn't seem to drift shut.

It wasn't that the mattress was uncomfortable. It was much better than the mattresses in the boys' cabin, which were themselves much more comfortable than the old hammocks on Merry.

But he'd grown accustomed to falling asleep to the sound of Franky and Zoro's snores, Sanji's grumbling, Luffy and Chopper whispering and giggling, Brook humming lullabies…

The silence pressed in on Usopp like a dark, heavy force. It dug around in his mind and pulled out memories he'd carefully hidden away.

Lying, injured and alone, on the deck of a ship that would never sail again. And before that, long ago, curled up in an empty house, trying to remember a time when his mother hadn't been sick, bed-ridden… dead…

Usopp shot out of bed, sweating. He wasn't alone. His nakama were all around him, sleeping peacefully on the ship. And in the room next to his…

Usopp padded to the door of Franky's workshop and pushed it open slowly.

The cyborg lay splayed out on his own suuuper-mattress, snoring loudly. Usopp approached the mattress and only hesitated for a moment before crawling in next to Franky.

One giant arm wrapped itself around Usopp's waist and pulled him closer. Usopp finally let his eyes drift shut, relishing the warmth of being together.


	5. Candid Camera

**Title: **Candid Camera  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Video  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 238  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Okama!Sanji. You have been warned.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's boys.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Franky, come check this out!"<p>

Usopp motioned furiously for Franky to join him at his worktable, without tearing his eyes away from the small screen in front of him.

"What's up, Longnose-bro?"

"Shhh, just look at this!"

"What is…" Franky's voice trailed off.

Both crewmates stared in fascination at the image being projected onto the small screen by den den mushi.

After furtively glancing around the galley and carefully locking the door, Sanji had pulled open a locked cupboard. A frilly pink dress, red high heels and several tubes and containers of makeup tumbled out.

Franky and Usopp stared in shocked silence as they watched their skirt-chasing cook quickly dress himself up, pulling a curly blond wig out of the cupboard to complete the ensemble.

When Sanji began to flit around the kitchen in a decidedly feminine manner, the shipwright and sharpshooter finally lost it, rolling around on the workshop floor in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Usopp managed to catch his breath long enough to choke out, "When Sanji remembers he asked us to install a security den den mushi in the kitchen to catch Luffy stealing food…"

"We're dead," Franky finished his sentence, still snorting with laughter.

Another glance at the at the screen, where Sanji was swinging his hips, his skirt swishing as he darted around the kitchen collecting ingredients.

"It's worth it," Usopp declared before falling against the guffawing cyborg, howling with laughter.


	6. Something Special

**Title: **Something Special  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Something  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 264  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Little bit of angst…  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

Not sure how I feel about this dialogue-only format…

* * *

><p>"What's up, Longnose-bro?"<p>

"Have you ever noticed that Zoro takes extra special care of that white sword?"

"Huh?"

"And Luffy takes such good care of that hat of his… he got it from Red Hair Shanks, you know."

"I've heard…"

"And Nami's tangerines. We can't even go near them without getting beaten up! Just like Sanji's kitchen. No stealing food when he's around."

"Longnose-bro?"

"Chopper has a special hat, too. I think he got it from his father…"

"Usopp? Are you okay?"

"And Brook's tone dial. He keeps it in his _head_ so he doesn't lose it! And Robin has a skill in her head that no one can steal from her…"

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't cry! That's not super!"

"And… and… the way you take care of Sunny…"

"Usopp…"

"Everyone in the crew has something… something special. Something they'd do anything to protect… I had something like that, too, you know. I couldn't protect her."

"Look, you can share my something special! We'll take care of the Sunny together, okay?"

"… What if I fail her like I failed Merry?"

"You didn't fail her, Usopp. It's not your fault the Merry Go couldn't keep going… in fact, it's because of you she managed to carry you as far as she did."

"She should have gone further. She should have been able to take us around the world!"

"That's a lot to ask of a ship…"

"But if I had taken better care of her… if I had been a real shipwright…"

"If you'd been a real shipwright… I wouldn't ever have met you."


	7. Reactions

**Title: **Reactions  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Grown-up  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 205  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Spoilers for the timeskip.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>"Hold down my nose for at least three seconds."<p>

"Whoa!"

Chopper and Usopp crowed in excitement, staring up at the older man with shining eyes.

"That's so cool, Franky!"

"Ahaha, I've surpassed human understanding! Isn't it suuuper?"

Usopp agreed fervently, shouting and clapping, calling for the cyborg to show them more of his improvements.

Only later, wrapped in arms that were colder and harder than he remembered, would Usopp's excitement for the cyborg's modifications wane slightly. At the moment, though, he was caught up in the excitement and romance that was every boy's dream- and that the women obviously didn't understand, discreetly rolling their eyes at the boys antics.

"You've grown up some yourself, little bro!" Franky said, clapping Usopp on the back with one huge hand.

Usopp grinned widely at him, puffing out his chest and proudly displaying his hard-earned new physique.

Franky returned Usopp's grin. Now, finally, he could look at his face without seeing the shadow of the boy, beaten and weak, who had appeared at the Franky House at Water 7. Instead he saw a brave man, or almost one, confident and above all happy to be in the cyborg's presence.

"Suuuuppppah!" Franky shouted, pulling Usopp into a bone crunching hug.


	8. Baby Blues

**Title: **Baby Blues  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (main pairing, but not the only one in this drabble)  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Formula  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 295  
><strong>Warning: <strong>None, really. Implied pregnancy?  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Characters belong to Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

><p>"I bet you're hungry, eh?" Usopp said, looking down at the gurgling baby.<p>

He gently brushed his fingers over the her fine blue hair and tweaked her already distinctive nose. Then he scooped her up, tickling under her chin.

Carefully cradling the infant in one arm, Usopp reached out and grabbed the freshly prepared bottle of formula. The baby gurgled happily as Usopp gently pushed the nipple into her mouth. She latched on tightly, sucking hungrily.

"Oooh, you are hungry," Usopp cooed, wiping away a trickle of formula that dribbled out of the corner of her mouth.

Her tiny hand reached up and clutched his finger, holding on much more tightly than he thought something this small should be able to.

She stared up at him with wide, dark eyes, still sucking on the bottle. Then, with a little pop! the bottle came loose, her tiny mouth gaping open.

"All done?"

Usopp put down the bottle, then gently shifted the child so she was leaning against his shoulder. With careful, steady hands, he gently rubbed and patted her back. She burped softly, then sighed a tiny sigh as her eyes slid shut.

Usopp gently set her down in her crib. She drifted off to sleep without a complaint.

When they got back from their date, Franky and Robin would be happy to hear how good she had been. Of course, he didn't mind babysitting- he'd been the one to offer to watch the baby so they could have some time alone together.

Usopp leaned over the side of the crib, marvelling at the perfect, tiny life in front of him.

"You're a lucky girl," he whispered. "You have a great dad… who loves your mommy very much."

And he was only a _little_ bit jealous…


	9. Rumbar Pirates Memorial

**Title: **Rumbar Pirates Memorial  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Nothing  
><strong>Rating: <strong>T  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 286  
><strong>Warning: <strong>A little more shippy than usual… Also, vague spoilers for Thriller Bark.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>Usopp looked down at the blueprints spread out on the ground around him, then back up at Franky, who was hammering away at the half-completed Rumbar Pirates Memorial.<p>

"That's not supposed to go there," Usopp said, pointing at the carved wooden sword that Franky was hammering into place.

Franky looked over at Usopp, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you saying I don't know what I'm doing?"

"I didn't say that! I- eep!"

Usopp ducked and covered his head with his arms as Franky stalked towards, hammer in hand.

"Wait! I-"

He let out another _eep! _as Franky scooped him up in his arms.

"Now, what were you saying?" Franky asked, his breath hot on Usopp's face.

Foreheads touching, Usopp looked up into Franky's eyes. He squirmed a bit, kicking his legs that were held high above the ground.

Franky's grip on Usopp's waist tightened a bit, one large hand coming up to tangle itself in the marksman's hair.

Usopp finally relaxed a bit in the cyborg's hold, reaching up his arms to wrap them around Franky's neck.

Franky's eyes fell half closed as the sniper's lips came painfully close to his own, hot breath in his mouth.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?"

The two crewmates leapt apart, Franky's fingers yanking painfully on Usopp's hair as they detangled themselves.

"N-nothing," Usopp stammered, praying his face wasn't as red as it felt.

"Hey, little tanuki-bro, why don't you go pick some flowers for the memorial?"

Chopper's face lit up brightly at Franky's suggestion.

"Okay!" he agreed, skipping away.

When the little reindeer was out of sigh, the two shipmates turned to face each other again.

"Now, where were we?" Franky asked, pulling the blushing marksman towards him.


	10. Video Games

**Title: **Video Games  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Format  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 196  
><strong>Warning: <strong>None.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

This drabble is set in the high school AU from one of Oda's omakes… http:/ s517. photobucket. com/albums/u339/jemierry23/One%20Piece%20Omake/Mugiwara%20High%20School/ (take out the spaces)

* * *

><p>"Okay," Usoya said. "To format this kind of document, first you need to modify the margins. So you click here, which opens a widow, and… Are you even listening?"<p>

Franory stared at the computer with glazed-over eyes and a bored expression.

"What's the point of this?" he groaned. "I mean, why do you like computers so much, anyways? They're not super at all."

"What?" Usoya protested. "Computers _are_ super! You don't just use computers to type up reports… look at this!"

With a few clicks of the mouse, Usoya opened up another tab. The computer's den den mushi began emitting bleeps and bangs.

Franory's eyes opened wide, his jaw dropping as he took in the flashing colours on the screen.

"_Whoa_," he muttered, "What is this?"

"It's called a video game," Usoya answered, looking over at Franory smugly.

…

Several hours later, Franory finally got up to leave, his eyes a bit bloodshot.

"That was suuuper! Can I come over again tomorrow to do that?"

Usoya grinned.

"It's a date."

As soon as Franory was gone, the secret hacker of darkness bully rushed over to his computer to find even better games for the next day…


	11. Wrong Impression

**Title: **Wrong Impression  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Hinted Franky/Usopp, some FRobin  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Message  
><strong>Rating: <strong>T  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 137  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much…  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>"Hey, hey, what're you doing?" Franky said, staring down at the drunk archaeologist who was pushing herself up against him.<p>

"Don't think I haven't seen that look in your eyes," she purred, running a hand along his exposed chest.

"H-hey! M-maybe I've been giving you the wrong impression… the wrong message…" Franky stuttered, shivering under her touch.

"I can read you like an open book," she whispered in his ear, her tongue flicking out to lick his earlobe.

Franky jumped away from her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… I think you've had a little too much to drink, Nico Robin. I should go."

Robin watched with dancing eyes as Franky hurried nervously out of the room. Then she sat back and sipped at her fruit juice.

"Fufufu… who said I was talking about the way you looked at _me_?"


	12. Of Science Experiments and Metaphors

**Title: **Of Science Experiments and Metaphors  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Combining  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 165  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> These characters belong to Oda!

* * *

><p>Usopp pulled his goggles over his eyes and gazed down carefully at the beaker on the table in front of him. In one hand, he held a small white object with a pair of tweezers.<p>

"By combining caffeine, potassium benzoate, aspartame, and CO2 with gelatin and gum arabic," he said, position the tweezers above the beaker, "You get…"

He let the object drop into the dark liquid.

"A cola-and-mint volcano!" Franky shouted as the beaker exploded with frothy white bubbles.

Franky laughed, grabbing the half empty bottle of cola and taking a swig. Usopp popped a leftover mint in his mouth, grinning proudly at their successfully completed experiment.

Franky was a lot like his precious cola, Usopp observed vaguely. Bursting with energy, ready to explode at the slightest shake.

And if Franky was cola, then Usopp was the mint- smaller and more contained, but just as able to explode under the right circumstances.

"You thinking what I'm thinking, Longnose-bro?"

Usopp grinned.

"Let's do it again!"

* * *

><p>Okay, I'm not sure this made sense, exactly… but by "explode" I kind of mean explode with strength and determination…<p> 


	13. Kids

**Title: **Kids  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Strawberries  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 235  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much. Passing mention of the timeskip.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> These characters belong to Oda!

* * *

><p>"You know what I really hate?" Usopp said suddenly, with the air of someone who'd been thinking long and hard about this. "Strawberries. I hate them. I mean, with those annoying little seeds that get stuck in your teeth? And they don't even taste all that good!"<p>

Franky put down the barrel he'd been using to refill the ship's cola stores.

"Strawberries, eh?" he said, looking at the marksman with a bit of confusion.

"My mom loved them, though," Usopp continued, without really looking at Franky. "When she started to get sick- I mean really sick, worse than usual- I would pick them for her. Every day. Usually she would eat a few of them, but that last day…"

Usopp slumped against the wall of the cola store room, frowning, arms crossed.

"Dammit, what am I even talking about?" he said with a gruff laugh, wiping at his eyes with clenched fists.

Franky reached out one enormous hand and squeezed Usopp's shoulder. Sometimes he forgot that his crewmate was still a kid, really, even after these two years of growing up and getting stronger. And wasn't that what the whole crew was? A bunch of lost kids, banding together and surviving on the skin of their teeth.

"Tom liked strawberries, too," he said, thinking back to when he was a lost kid, too. "Said they were the best food that doesn't grow in the ocean…"


	14. Common Sense

**Title: **Common Sense  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Sense  
><strong>Rating: <strong>T  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 300  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Pretty shippy at the end. Slight spoilers for Water 7.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Eiichiro Oda's characters, not mine.

* * *

><p>Although Usopp often complained of various "diseases", he really only suffered from one thing: common sense. Of course Usopp didn't consider common sense an illness, but rather the one thing that had kept him alive since joining the Straw Hats (well, that, and sheer dumb luck).<p>

There were only a few things that could temporarily strip Usopp of the common sense he was so proud of (though Nami was his only crewmate who actually agreed that common sense was something to be proud of): his dream of becoming a pirate, goofing around with Luffy and Chopper, seeing his nakama in danger (and not just seeing them in danger, but knowing that they wanted and _needed_ his help)… Franky.

The first time Usopp met Franky- well, that was something he preferred not too think about, a memory filled with pain that hurt all the more on the outside because of how badly it hurt on the inside.

But the second time they met… maybe it was because Franky had sheltered Merry from the Aqua Laguna. Or maybe it was because Usopp was feeling too hollow and deflated by what was going on at the time that he couldn't even bring himself to care.

But somehow it was more than that. Although his common sense was screaming that this was the man who had hurt him, who had crushed his bones as effectively as his spirit, there was something muffling that voice- something not unlike adrenaline, making his heart pound and his judgement hazy.

Whatever it was, it made him, if not grin, then at least bear it.

And the feeling only grew from there.

…

His body pressed firmly against Franky's, mouths locked, fingers gripping at hair and exposed skin.

Common sense screamed that this was wrong.

And Usopp ignored it.


	15. Romance 101

**Title: **Romance 101  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Course  
><strong>Rating: <strong>T  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 279  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Pretty shippy. No spoilers.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Eiichiro Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Franky, do you still have those blueprints or-"<p>

Usopp stopped mid-sentence, frozen in the doorway of Franky's workshop.

"F-Franky? What's this?"

"This? Ahahaha, isn't it super? I-I mean, please, sit down."

Franky bowed, motioning at the small table in the middle of his workshop, decorated with candles, roses and fancy silver wear. Soft music played in the background, probably from a tone dial recorded by Brook. Franky himself was wearing a suit- well, on top, anyways. On the bottom he still wore his ever-present speedo.

Usopp raised an eyebrow. Franky pulled out a chair and beckoned the marksman towards him, and Usopp hesitantly stumbled into the room and sat down, giving Franky an incredulous look.

"Your hair, uh…" Franky pulled out a stack of key cards from the breast pocket of his jacket and flipped through them. "Your hair is as black as chocolate… wait, no, those are your eyes. Your eyes are like chocolate… wait, your eyes _are _brown, right?"

He leaned down and grabbed Usopp's chin, staring into his eyes.

"Franky? What the heck is going on?"

"Well! Er… Sanji gave me a course in romance, so…"

Usopp stared up at Franky with wide eyes for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"You asked _Sanji_ for romance advice?"

"Hey, Longnose-bro, when you put it like _that_…"

But his excuse died as he began laughing as well.

Then he leaned down and caught Usopp's lips with his own. The sniper froze for a moment, then let his eyes drift shut and returned the kiss.

"Did Sanji teach you that?" he asked as they pulled apart.

"Ahahahaha… nope, that was all me."

"Good," Usopp replied, leaning in again.


	16. Nightmare

**Title: **Nightmare  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Anymore  
><strong>Rating: <strong>T  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 497  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Angst, some violence, Water 7 spoilers.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Eiichiro Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>"Where's Usopp?"<p>

"Dunno."

"Oh. He left the money here. So never mind."

Usopp wants to scream at Luffy and Nami, _No, no, that's not the money, __**help!**_ But the thugs are dragging him away, and there's a hand clamped over his mouth. He tries to kick and squirm, but they're _strong_ and there's so many of them. They're laughing as they hold the money just out of his grasp, kicking him and hitting him and reminding him that he's _weak_.

…

Nami told him to stay, that she was getting help. But he doesn't want help. It's his turn- not to play the hero, exactly, because it's his fault the money was taken in the first place- but at least to right his wrong without help.

But he's still _weak_. And there are even more of the thugs here.

The man who must be their leader is here, too, masked and _huge_.

"I feel sorry for Straw Hat Luffy, if the only one he had to guard the money was a good-for-nothing crewman like you."

And then there are hands- huge hands, too big for a normal man, way too big and strong- crushing his bones and drowning the last bit of Usopp's courage in pain.

And then he leaves, taking the money with him, and Usopp realizes too late- although maybe he knew all along, really- that he can't right this wrong on his own, that he's only made things worse and he should have stayed when Nami told him to stay. Or better yet, crawled away and hidden himself, because he can't face them. He doesn't deserve to face them, and every blow that lands on his body as the thugs surround him reminds him of that.

He's crying and screaming and he doesn't care how pathetic he is anymore because he can't sink any lower than this, and if they kill him it will probably be better for everyone.

And then there are arms wrapped tightly around him- too big and strong to belong to a normal human- and someone's petting his hair and whispering in his ear. He's thrashing and crying and hurting because he recognizes the voice- it's the man, the masked man with the too-big hands- and Usopp is back in Water 7 and wishing he was dead.

"C'mon, Longnose-bro, wake up. It's just a dream."

A little bit of clarity seeps into Usopp's mind. This isn't Water 7, it's the Thousand Sunny, and the arms around him are warm and comforting instead of cold and crushing.

But it isn't just a dream, or even a nightmare. It's a memory, which makes it a thousand times worse.

Usopp stops thrashing, catches his breath, wipes away his tears.

"Sorry," he whispers, so quietly he's not sure Franky can hear him, and melts into his embrace.

But there's still something disconcerting about these too-big arms, and Usopp has to remind himself yet again that he doesn't need to be afraid of Franky anymore.


	17. Two Years

**Title: **Two Years  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Stopped  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 317  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Spoilers for the timeskip.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>Franky had been to many islands when he was young, but those were years full of angry faces, of yelling and hitting and abuse… Memories better off forgotten.<p>

He'd lived most of his life on Water 7, which had nice, mild weather. He wasn't used to the bone-chilling cold of Karakuri Island.

Shivering and wrapped in a blanket, he sat in a corner of the old lab, flipping through yellowed blueprints.

"Yes, yes, yes," he muttered excitedly. "This is suuuper!"

Life had been put on hold for two years for the Straw Hats, but Franky was going to be ready when they reunited.

Stronger and even more super.

"Wonder what Usopp would think of this," he said, pulling out a particularly interesting blueprint.

…

Usopp was doubled over, hands on his knees, panting.

"Are… we… almost done?" he wheezed, looking over at Heracles.

"Only three more laps-un around the forest-un," Heracles answered, crossing his arms. Usopp imagined he wore a smug smile behind his mask.

The marksman groaned, but didn't complain as he resumed his running.

When Usopp had joined the Straw Hat pirates, it was the beginning a whole new life. When Kuma sent him flying to this strange, wild island, that life had stopped cold.

He had two years before that life could resume.

Training with Heracles, Usopp had already begun to lose some of the weight he'd put on alarmingly quickly upon arriving at the island. He promised himself that by the time the Straw Hats reunited, he'd be strong. Not as strong as Luffy and Zoro (he liked to dream, but he wasn't _crazy_), but strong. He wouldn't be the weak crewmate, the kind that needed protecting.

He'd make his crew proud.

Imagining his nakama's reactions to his new strength made the burning in his legs and lungs slightly more bearable.

Imagining Franky's reaction… made him put on an extra burst of speed.


	18. Date

**Title: **Date  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship), UsoNa, FRobin  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Edge  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 574 (little long for a drabble…)  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much…  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>Usopp sat nervously on the edge of his chair, fiddling with his tie.<p>

"Did I _have_ to wear a suit, Nami?"

Nami rolled her eyes.

"There was _no way_ I was going to take you to a place as nice as this _in overalls_."

"But we're _pirates_," he pointed out, although he knew most arguments with Nami were futile.

"And tonight we're a couple on a date in a nice restaurant." Nami leaned over and reached out a hand, twirling a stray black hair around her finger. She flashed Usopp the kind of smile that reminded him exactly why he'd agreed to this date in the first place.

Loud laughter interrupted their moment, though, resounding thorough the entire restaurant.

They both looked over at a table in the far corner of the richly decorated dinning room. Franky was laughing loudly, Robin smiling softly behind her hand.

This was the only nice restaurant in the small town the Straw Hats had docked in, and Usopp and Nami weren't the only ones who'd decided to have a night to themselves. The rest of the crew was back on the ship trying to console (or insult, in Zoro's case) Sanji, who'd all but passed out upon learning that his precious Nami-swan and Robin-chwan were going out without him.

Nami put a finger on Usopp's chin and turned his head so he was facing her again. She leaned further across the table, until his long nose was bent awkwardly against hers.

"Forget about them… tonight's our night," she whispered, warm breath tickling his face.

He shivered under her touch, nervously excited.

Then her lips were on his. His eyes bulged, his mind racing.

"Ah- I need to go!" he shouted, bounding to his feet.

He raced away from the table, ignoring Nami shouting after him.

He burst into the men's room and slammed the door shut, breathing hard, his heart hammering.

"Gyah!" He jumped a mile and spun around when the door to the bathroom burst open.

He reached for a weapon that wasn't there, panicking until he realized the man who had walked in was Franky.

Usopp slumped against a cold metal stall, huffing a sigh of relief.

"Whoa, are you okay, little bro?" Franky asked, lifting up his sunglasses to raise an eyebrow.

"I just… errr, well… I'veneverkissedagirlbefore," he admitted in a rush.

Franky's eyebrow lifted higher. Then he grinned and clapped Usopp on the back, knocking the marksman's breath out of him with a whoosh.

"Come on, Longnose-bro, go out there and show Nami who's boss! You can't let her wear the pants all the time."

Usopp was sorely tempted to point out that Robin seemed to be the one wearing the pants (literally and figuratively) in her relationship with Franky, but he thought he might throw up if he said too much.

"Okay," he managed to squeak.

Franky leaned down and straightened Usopp's tie a little. Then he gave Usopp another hearty clap on the back, knocking him out of the bathroom.

He took a deep breath, steeled himself, and marched back over to Nami.

"Where did you-mmph!"

Usopp pressed his face against Nami's, yanking her hair just a little too hard as he gave her a long, sloppy kiss.

They finally pulled apart, breathless.

Usopp looked up to see Franky giving him an enthusiastic thumbs-up and a wide grin.

Returning the cyborg's grin, Usopp leaned in for another kiss, enjoying Nami's surprised look.


	19. Understanding

**Title: **Understanding  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Vocal  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 283  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much…  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>While the Straw Hats were an exceptionally loud crew, prone to shouting and fits of roaring laughter, their most important communications weren't vocal.<p>

A pointed look during a battle. _I'm trusting this one to you._

A smile that was a little too wide, a laugh that was a little too loud. _I need to pretend I'm happy right now._

A scowl and a friendly hand shrugged off. _I want to be alone. _(Unless of course it was Zoro or Sanji, in which case it all depended on the intensity of the scowl.)

Locked doors spoke volumes, too. Although all the doors on the Sunny had locks, they were very rarely used. Even the bathroom door was most often left unlocked. The girls and Sanji were the only ones who usually bothered with locks.

So when the inventor stopped in front of his crewmate's workshop, he was surprised to find the door shut tight, the handle not budging an inch as he wiggled it.

"Hey… can I come in?"

A muffled reply came from inside. After several seconds of silence, the door was pushed open from inside.

The pirate's eyes were bright with tears as he looked up into his crewmate's face. He looked so small, curled up against the workshop wall, arms clasped tightly around his knees.

Without a word, Usopp knelt down and wrapped his arms around Franky, letting the older pirate lean into him.

Franky was prone to fits of loud tears, vehemently denying his emotion even as he wept.

But these were the kind of tears that required no words- just a shoulder to cry into, and the knowledge that there were people who understood him enough not to ask.


	20. Bink's Sake

**Title: **Bink's Sake  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)… basically nakamaship for the whole crew, actually.  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Musical  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 362  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much… technically a bit of a spoiler for Thriller Bark…  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters. He owns the song, too, I think.

* * *

><p>"Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho… Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho…"<p>

Brook's soft voice and the sound of his violin reached all corners of the ship's deck. Gentle waves slapped the side of the Thousand Sunny, reflecting the starlight like a million glittering jewels.

"Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo…"

Sanji leaned against the ship's railing, staring out at the sparkling blacks waves. A thin trail of white smoke drifted from his lips as he mouthed the words to the song.

"Umikaze kimakase namimakase…"

Zoro allowed himself a small smile as he took a swig of sake. The cook had been in a relatively good mood after supper- he'd let Zoro have one of his better bottle of alcohol.

"Shio no mukou de, yuuhi mo sawagu…"

Chopper let his eyes drift slowly shut, lulled by the musician's softly singing voice. He cuddled up against the swordsman's side, clutching the green haramaki with one small hoof.

"Sora nya wa wo kaku, tori no uta…"

Luffy bounded over to his smiling first mate. When he noticed the sleeping doctor, he began to tiptoed theatrically, and plopped himself down on the swordsman's other side. He sang along as quietly as was humanly possibly for a Monkey (which wasn't very quietly at all).

"Sayonara minato, Tsumugi no sato yo…"

Nami glanced up at the sound of her captain's voice. She set down the pen and the travel log she'd been working on and smiled at the sight of her crewmates cuddled together.

"DON to icchou utao, funade no uta…"

Robin came to sit next to Nami, humming along softly. She followed the navigator's gaze and smiled as well, sprouting a trail of extra arms to bring a blanket to the sleeping young reindeer.

"Kinpa-ginpa mo shibuki ni kaete…"

Franky came out on deck, pulled from his workshop by the sound of gently playing music. He whipped out his ever-present guitar and began to play along.

"Oretacha yuku zo, umi no kagiri…"

Usopp had followed the cyborg out onto the deck. He sat down next to Franky, leaning his head against the older pirate's shoulder. Their voices ran together as they joined Brook's singing.

"Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo…"


	21. Prisoners

**Title: **Prisoners  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Sarcasm  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 268  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much… a bit of spoiler for Enies Lobby.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>"Well, this is just great," Usopp grumbled, struggling pointlessly against his bonds.<p>

"Great?" Franky asked, looking at the younger pirate with a raised eyebrow.

Usopp looked over at the large blue-haired man with a scowl. He hadn't quite figured out the strange gang-leader yet.

"I'm being _sarcastic_," he explained impatiently.

"Well, I'm sure your crew is going to come save you."

Usopp gritted his teeth.

"I already _told_ you, I'm not their crewmate anymore. I quit the crew."

The last thing Usopp wanted was for any of his crewmates- his _ex_-crewmates, he reminded himself harshly- to come save him now. To see him pathetically tied up and tossed into a storage compartment.

He'd proven himself too weak far too many times these past few days.

On the bright side, Franky didn't seem to be able to escape either, and the cyborg was at least as strong as some of the Straw Hats.

On the less bright side… they were headed for Enies Lobby, the World Government's judicial island, only one step away from the highest-security prison in the world.

He felt his stomach jolt.

He was trying very, _very_ hard not to think about that.

"They probably won't kill us if we don't resist," the cyborg said off-handedly.

"So we're not going to resist, right?" Usopp asked hopefully, his heart pounding in his chest.

Franky laughed loudly.

"Of course we are!"

Usopp blanched and squeaked pathetically.

Franky seemed to notice the sniper's discomfort.

"Oh," he said. "I thought you were being sarcastic again."

Usopp squeezed his eyes shut and banged his head repeatedly against the wall behind him.


	22. Perfect

**Title: **Perfect  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Almanac  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 312  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Slight spoilers for the timeskip.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>Usopp sat at the outdoor branch of his workshop, goggles pulled over his eyes. He'd sort of outgrown the small space in the past two years. He looked a bit awkward, hunched over various vials and trinkets, his legs folded under him.<p>

"Hey, Franky," he called as the cyborg walked past him. "Could you go grab the plans in my workshop? They should be on my desk."

"Sure thing, little bro!"

…

The plans weren't sitting in plain view on Usopp's messy desk, though. Franky frowned, riffling through a pile of papers and books.

A few loose papers were sticking out from between the pages of _The Inventor's Almanac_. Franky cracked the thick book open.

The first couple papers were full of rough sketches of gears and springs and various mechanical knick-knacks. Judging by the dates scribbled in the corners, these were old doodles, drawn long before Franky ever joined the crew.

The next few papers were slightly more recent drawings- sketches of vaguely human-shaped machines.

The pages were full of hastily scribbled notes. _Needs work. Revise._

These probably weren't the plans Usopp had been talking about. Franky was about to stuff the pages back into the book when he noticed a coupled thickly-folded papers tucked against the back cover.

He unfolded them and smoothed them out on the desk.

These drawings were much more detailed. Various angles of a broad-chested, muscular man, his hair lightly coloured in blue pencil. Annotations and cutaways were doodled in the corners, showing the man's inner mechanical workings.

According to the scribbled dates, these had been drawn shortly before Kuma had whisked the Straw Hats away from their ship, and everything in it.

And scrawled in large capital letters across the bottom of one of the drawings was one word. _Perfect._

The two years worth of modifications that Franky sported suddenly didn't seem half as necessary.


	23. From the Shadows

**Title: **From the Shadows  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Detecting  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 211  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Slight spoilers for Water 7/Enies Lobby…  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> These characters belong to Oda!

* * *

><p>It had only been a few days since they'd left Water 7. Usopp still woke up every night in a cold sweat, angry thugs and a huge masked man haunting his sleep.<p>

During the day, though, the blue haired man fascinated him. The way his huge hands could be both incredibly strong and incredibly delicate as he made tiny modifications to his precious ship, with the skill and finesse Usopp had always wanted to use on Merry but had never been able to.

The younger pirate would stand in the doorway of the shipwright's workshop, hanging back as he watched him work with curious eyes.

He'd follow him, as casually as he could, as the cyborg refilled cola barrels and fixed the path of destruction Luffy inevitably left in his wake.

Sometimes he imagined himself as a spy, a detective, an assassin as stealthy as the CP9. Sitting in the shadows, enjoying the older pirate's presence.

The first time Franky finally looked over at Usopp and invited him to his side, Usopp nearly turned tail and ran. But that huge smile was anything but menacing. So he stepped out of the shadows and watched the shipwright work over his shoulder.

He decided he preferred being a friend to being a spy.


	24. Parents

**Title: **Parents  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Warp  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 377  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Set some time after Fishman Island… just a passing mention of it, though.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Eiichiro Oda's characters.

Listening to the new OP opening while I'm writing this… WE GO!

* * *

><p>"Who was that Den guy, anyways?" Usopp asked, glancing over at Franky.<p>

"Den?" Franky repeated, not taking his eyes off the pile of scrap metal he was pawing through. "Oh, he's Tom's younger brother."

"Tom was your dad, right?" Usopp said, trying to remember the few things Franky had told him about his childhood.

Franky shook his head, still searching through the scraps.

"Nah, he wasn't my dad. My… teacher, more like."

"But you grew up with him, right? Him and… Kokoro…" The marksman shuddered slightly at the name. "So that makes them like your parents."

"Ah, here!" Franky declared, pulling out a large, completely unremarkable scrap of metal.

"I mean, most of us were raised by people who aren't our _real_ parents," Usopp continued.

Franky finally turned to Usopp, putting down the scrap metal.

"How about you, then? You were raised by your real parents, right?"

"My mom, yeah. My dad left when I was really little, but he's a pirate, you know!"

"I've heard," Franky laughed, punching the marksman's shoulder. After a pause, he added, "My dad was a pirate, too. My mom as well."

"Tom was a pirate?" Usopp asked, eyes wide. "I thought-"

"Not Tom. My real dad. I lived on a pirate ship until I was ten."

"Whoa! That's so cool!" Usopp shouted excitedly, eyes shinning.

Franky just grinned, going back to his scrap metal.

"What was it like?"

"Ah… It was a long time ago," Franky muttered.

He preferred not to tell his younger crewmate about the years of sleeping in storage holds, of being told to stay out of everyone's way. Of breaking rules and pushing buttons, making a warped sort of game out of seeing just how far he could go before he was sent flying across the deck with a well-placed blow from the hulking, broad-shouldered man who was his father. Of pushing those boundaries just a little too far one stormy night, of being tossed overboard by his own mother without a second thought.

Heck, maybe Usopp was right. Maybe Tom was his father, or the closest thing he'd ever really had. Even the old hag Kokoro made a better mother than the woman who'd given birth to him.

"It was a long time ago," Franky repeated.


	25. Future

**Title: **Future  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Transit  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 317  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Eiichiro Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>Franky slid into the sea train seat next to Usopp.<p>

"Ahhh," he said, leaning back with his arms behind his head. "Give me a ship any day, but if we've gotta use public transit, this is the way to go."

Usopp grinned.

"Well, this time around is a lot better than my first time…"

Franky laughed in agreement, remembering being bound and tossed into a storage compartment by assassins…

"We've had some pretty super adventures, eh?"

"Don't say it like we're not going to have any more," Usopp said, frowning.

Franky shrugged, turning to look out the window at the ocean rushing past outside.

"I don't know… can anything live up to the stuff we've already done?"

Usopp laughed.

"Don't say anything like that to Luffy… he might be Pirate King, but he still expects every adventure to be even better than the last."

Franky laughed as well, turning back to his crewmate.

"Luffy's just going to keep on going forever, isn't he?"

The thought made Usopp smile.

"Well, we have to see the whole world. Nami still needs to finish her map, right?"

Franky nodded, his gaze drifting back to the window.

"But have you ever thought about… going home?" he asked.

"We have gone home. We're visiting your home right now, aren't we?"

"I mean… going home for good. You've got a girl back home, don't you?"

Usopp was silent for several moments. Franky turned back to look at him, and saw the marksman fiddling with his armband.

"When we went back to my hometown a while back, I saw Kaya," he said slowly. "We both realized that we're different now… She's a successful doctor, and I'm a world famous pirate."

Usopp smiled up at the cyborg and added, "Besides, we've both been seeing other people."

Franky smiled back before leaning down and, his arms around the sniper's waist, caught Usopp's lips in a kiss.


	26. Dead and Buried

**Title: **Dead and Buried  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Grave  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 247  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much… Angst.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>The rest of the crew had drifted back to the ship, but Franky stood in front of the grave, shivering slightly in the crisp autumn air. The sight of the sniper's grave made his blood run cold.<p>

He'd never liked graves. They were proof that someone had died, a constant reminder staring you in the face. He was glad that they hadn't made a grave for Tom. He could remember his mentor as a loud, vibrant man instead of a cold body buried in the ground.

This grave, though… six feet underground lay a member of one of the world's most famous pirate crews, a powerful fighter and skilled marksman… dead and buried. Gone.

The cyborg burst into a fit of loud tears as a figure came over the rise of the hill, approaching the grave with a scraggly bouquet of wildflowers.

Franky reached out with his huge arms and pulled Usopp into a tight hug, still bawling.

"I'm so sorry, little bro," he wailed, his grip tightening.

Usopp gasped for breath when Franky finally released him.

"It's okay," the Straw Hat's sniper said, kneeling down and placing the flowers against the grave. "I just wish you could have met him… I wish I could have seen him again."

He stepped back and admired his handiwork for a moment. Franky's arms clasped around Usopp's waist again, tears falling into his hair.

And then tears were streaming down Usopp's face, too, blurring Yasopp's name carved into the headstone.


	27. Vulnerable

**Title: **Vulnerable  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Back  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 240  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much…  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>Franky woke up with a yelp. He jerked up and pressed his back against the wall, his body on alert.<p>

"Gyah!" Usopp just barely managed to jump out of the way in time to avoid being squashed between the cyborg's huge frame and the wall of his workshop.

"Oh, it's just you, Longnose-bro," Franky said with a sigh a relief, slumping back down on his mattress. He lay splayed out on his stomach, head turned so he was facing the younger pirate.

Usopp crawled back over to the mattress. Then he climbed onto Franky's back, straddling the cyborg's waist.

Franky yelped again and tried to flip over onto his back.

"Whoa, you're going to squish me!" Usopp shrieked, wrapping his arms around Franky's chest and holding on for dear life.

"What are you doing?" Franky shouted, craning his neck to look at Usopp.

"Giving you a massage," Usopp answered seriously.

"Don't touch my back!"

"But it's warm!"

"It's sensitive!"

"It's _human_."

Franky paused. Usopp dared to loosen his grip, then sat up completely, still straddling his crewmate's waist.

"Fine," Franky grumbled, burying his face in his pillow. His voice muffled, he added, "But it better be a good massage."

His shoulders tensed as the sniper's strong, steady hands began to knead his sensitive human skin. He relaxed, though, as his subconscious need to always watch his back, to literally cover for his vulnerable side, slipped away under Usopp's careful touch.


	28. Mechanic

**Title: **Mechanic  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Thought  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 261  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much…  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>"I can do it myself," Franky grumbled, looking down at Usopp.<p>

Usopp looked up from the exposed wires of Franky's forearm.

"You can't fix your own arms when neither of them are working," he pointed out.

"I've done it before," Franky answered.

Usopp shook his head and reached out to grab a wrench. He'd heard the story of Franky rebuilding himself from junk and scraps, without any kind of anaesthetic or painkillers, with no medical knowledge… the thought was disturbing at best, horrific at worst.

"You're doing it wrong," Franky snapped.

"Am not!"

"Are too! That wire doesn't go there!"

"Does too!"

Franky continued to grumble, but Usopp ignored him, reattaching wires and tightening screws.

The first time the marksman had offered to help Franky maintain his cyborg body, he'd been gruffly refused. It had taken a lot of wheedling, and one particularly debilitating case of short-circuiting, to get the cyborg to give up his iron grip of control on his modifications and maintenance.

Usopp smiled as he moved onto Franky's other arm. He loved these moments. There was a certain intimacy to it, and a huge element of trust. For all Franky complained and grumbled, Usopp knew he'd earned the shipwright's ultimate seal of friendship. Even Chopper wasn't allowed to mess around with Franky's cyborg parts.

"There, all done," Usopp announced, putting down his tools and stepping back.

Franky stood up and flexed his arms. He carefully inspected them with raised eyebrows for a moment, and Usopp's stomach twisted in anticipation.

"Super job, Longnose-bro," Franky finally announced.

Usopp smiled proudly.


	29. Swimming

**Title: **Swimming  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp (nakamaship)  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Wrench  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 334  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Nothing much… Tiny spoiler for after Thriller Bark.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Longnose-bro, come help me work on Soldier Docking station four!"<p>

"Hm?" Usopp asked, looking up from his work desk. "I though station number four was empty."

"It is! But not for long. Come on, I have a super idea!"

Usopp grabbed his toolbox and followed the cyborg down into the Soldier Docking system.

"C'mon, what's your idea?" Usopp pressed, but Franky just gave him a mysterious grin, not saying anything beyond how suuuper! his idea was.

When they got to the fourth station, Franky pulled out what looked like an extremely long length of flexible pipe. (Usopp had given up on trying to figure out how Franky managed to pull his building supplies out of thin air.)

"… What are you going to do with that?"

"Ahahaha, check this out!"

Franky whipped out a hammer and wrench and proceeded to bolt the ends of the pipe to either side of the Soldier Docking system's large opening.

"It's… a pipe," Usopp observed.

"Nope! Hold on, stay right here!"

Franky raced back up onto the deck, leaving Usopp shouting after him.

"Hey, wait, what are you doing? I didn't even get to help!"

And then the door of the docking station began to slide open with a loud groaning sound. Usopp watched as the pipe sprang outwards, floating on the surface of the water in a vaguely circular shape.

Franky came sprinting back down into the Soldier Docking system.

"So? What do you think? Isn't it super?"

"What… is it?"

"It's a _pool_! A super pool!"

"…Whoa! That is super!" Usopp shouted, chucking his bag and toolbox to the side as he prepared to dive in.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Franky shouted, grabbing the sniper by the shoulder. "You can't go swimming in your clothes!"

"Why not?"

"You have to wear… this!" Franky shouted, whipping out a small piece of cloth.

"I-is that what I think it is?"

"Isn't it super?"

"Gyaaaaah!" Usopp screamed, sprinting away from the cyborg. "No way! I'm not wearing a speedo!"


	30. Good Night

**Title: **Good Night  
><strong>Paring: <strong>Franky/Usopp  
><strong>Theme: <strong>Sophisticated  
><strong>Rating: <strong>K+  
><strong>Word count:<strong> 432  
><strong>Warning: <strong>Shippy at the end.  
><strong>Disclaimer(s):<strong> Oda's characters.

* * *

><p>Four sophisticated, well-dressed pirates entered the restaurant. The maître d' led them to a table in the back of the room, smiling at the red-headed woman in the slinky black dress. He scurried away quickly when he caught a withering glare from the blond man in the dark, well-fitted suit.<p>

"Remind me again why we're here," Usopp grumbled, pulling awkwardly at his tie.

Franky grunted, staring down in disgust at the pants Nami had forced him into.

"_Because_," Sanji answered, his eyes on Nami as she leapt up from the table and followed after the maître d'. "You're the only ones we managed to drag along, and Nami-swan refused to go out to dinner alone with me…"

Franky snorted and sat back in his seat, crossing his large arms.

"I don't like places like this," Usopp grumbled.

Sanji shot another glance in Nami's direction. She was leaning towards the maître d', her low-cut neckline revealing soft curves. The poor guy's face was slick with sweat as the thief leaned close to him and whispered in his ear, probably wheedling her way to a free meal.

"If you two ruin Nami-swan's night, I'll kill you," Sanji threatened, turning back to his grumpy crewmates.

"_But_," the cook added, leaning in closer. "If you happened to… leave us alone… I'd owe you."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Franky said, leaping out of his seat. Usopp followed suit.

The two pirates sprinted out of the restaurant, ignoring Nami shouting after them to _come back, dammit!_

"But Nami-swaaan~ It's just us now! Aren't you happ- Ow! You're so beautiful when you're angry~"

Franky was already tearing off his pants and kicking off his shoes as he dashed out the door. Usopp yanked off his tie and threw away the tight suit jacket.

"Super!" Franky shouted, attracting strange looks from the well-dressed people entering and leaving the fancy restaurant. "I don't think I could have survived another minute in those pants!"

Usopp's answering laugh turned into a shout as the cyborg grabbed him by the waist and tossed him over his shoulder.

"H-hey! What are you-"

Franky dashed into a nearby alley and put Usopp down. He pushed the sniper up against the rough brick wall, bodies pressed close together.

A spark of fear coursed though Usopp's body. Memories of Water 7 flashed vividly in his mind. But then Franky's lips were pressed against his own, and it was nothing like Water 7.

"Ten bucks says we're gonna have a better night than Sanji," Franky said as they pulled apart slightly.

Usopp laughed and returned Franky's kiss.

* * *

><p>AN: Well, that's the end of my 30 drabbles. :D I loved writing about these guys, though, and I still have plenty of ideas for Franky and Usopp... so expect to see more of them from me in one shots and such.


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